Global Crop Diversity Trust

Global Crop Diversity Trust

"Our mission is to ensure the conservation and availability of crop diversity for food security worldwide. The fight against hunger is one of the greatest challenges facing the world over the coming decades. Crop diversity is fundamental to defeating hunger and achieving food security. But it is at serious risk.

"An increasingly unpredictable and changing climate, and a world population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050, will place unprecedented demands on agriculture. Conserving the vast diversity of crop varieties is the only way to guarantee that farmers and plant breeders will have the raw materials needed to improve and adapt their crops to meet these challenges - and provide food for us into the future."

Donors

 * Australia (AusAID)
 * Brazil (EMBRAPA)
 * Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation/UN Foundation
 * Canada (CIDA)
 * CGIAR Centres
 * Colombia (Ministry of Agriculture)
 * DuPont/Pioneer Hi-Bred
 * Egypt (Ministry of Agriculture)
 * Ethiopia
 * Gatsby Charitable Foundation
 * Germany
 * Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
 * Grains Research and Development Corporation
 * India (Ministry of Agriculture)
 * International Seed Federation
 * Ireland (Irish Aid)
 * Italy (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
 * New Zealand (Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry)
 * Norway (Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
 * Rockefeller Foundation
 * Sweden (Sida)
 * Switzerland (SDC)
 * Syngenta AG
 * Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture
 * Systemwide Genetic Resources Programme
 * United Kingdom
 * United Nations Foundation
 * United States of America (USAID)
 * World Bank - CGIAR

Directors
Accessed December 2007:


 * Chair: Margaret Catley-Carlson (Canada)
 * Vice-Chair: Wangari Maathai (Kenya)
 * Lewis Coleman (USA)
 * Peter Crane (UK)
 * Jorio Dauster (Brazil)
 * Adel El-Beltagy (Egypt)
 * Cary Fowler, Executive Director (ex officio)
 * John Lovett (Australia)
 * Karl Erik Olsson (Sweden)
 * Mangala Rai (India)
 * Jose Maria Sumpsi Vinas (Spain)

Contact details
Global Crop Diversity Trust c/o FAO Viale delle Terme di Caracalla 00153 Rome Italy Tel: +39 06 570 55142 Fax: +39 06 570 55634 Email: info AT croptrust.org Web: http://www.croptrust.org

Related Sourcewatch articles

 * Geoffrey Hawtin - former executive secretary (ended 2005)

Critical Articles

 * F. William Engdahl, "Doomsday Seed Vault" in the Arctic: Bill Gates, Rockefeller and the GMO giants know something we don’t, Global Research, December 4, 2007.